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Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on ’03 Doping List

David Ortiz, left, and Manny Ramirez propelled the Boston Red Sox to two World Series titles. Both tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.Credit
Adam Hunger/Reuters

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who helped the Boston Red Sox end an 86-year World Series championship drought and capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

Some of baseball’s most cherished story lines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have been linked to doping.

Baseball first tested for steroids in 2003, and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous. But for reasons that have never been made clear, the results were not destroyed and the first batch of positives has come to be known among fans and people in baseball as “the list.” The information was later seized by federal agents investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and the test results remain the subject of litigation between the baseball players union and the government.

Five others have been tied to positive tests from that year: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. Bonds, baseball’s career home runs leader, was not on the list, although federal agents seized his 2003 sample and had it retested. Those results showed the presence of steroids, according to court documents.

The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information was under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected. Ramirez, who is now with the Dodgers, recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy. Ortiz had not been linked to performance-enhancing substances.

Asked about the 2003 drug test before the Red Sox played Oakland on Thursday in Boston, Ortiz shrugged. “I’m not talking about that anymore,” he said. “I have no comment.”

After the game, he issued a statement confirming the report: “One, I have already contacted the players association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public.”

But the Mitchell report, which was released in December 2007, said that players who tested positive in 2003 were notified by the union after the tests were seized.

Theo Epstein, the Red Sox’ general manager, said the organization stood behind Ortiz. “We care about him and he’s meant a lot to us as an organization,” Epstein said. “We admire his approach to this, which is, he’s not going to run from it or hide from it.”

In St. Louis, where the Dodgers were playing the Cardinals, Ramirez told reporters that he would not discuss the drug test, according to The Los Angeles Times. “You guys want to talk about the game, what is happening now, we can sit down and talk for two hours,” Ramirez said. “If you want more information, call the union.”

The players union has argued that the government illegally seized the 2003 test results, and judges at various levels of the federal court system have weighed whether the government can keep them.

The government intends to question players on the list to determine where the drugs came from. An appeals court is deliberating the matter.

“The leaking of information under a court seal is a crime,” Donald Fehr, the union’s executive director, said in a statement. “The active pursuit of information that may not lawfully be disclosed because it is under court seal is a crime.”

Yet one by one, the names of elite players tied to performance-enhancing drugs have surfaced this year. In February, it was Rodriguez and Bonds. In May, it was Ramirez — for the first time. In June, it was Sosa.

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Rodriguez had been viewed by some as a clean player who could eventually overtake the career home run record established by Bonds. But Rodriguez later admitted that he used a performance-enhancing drug from 2001 to 2003. The Times reported in June that Sosa was among those who tested positive in 2003.

By 2003, Ramirez had long since established himself as one of baseball’s best hitters. Ortiz, however, was less known. In 2002, the Minnesota Twins effectively cut him after failing to trade him. He signed a bargain contract with the Red Sox and began the 2003 season as a backup.

Ortiz quickly blossomed, setting personal highs in home runs (31) and runs batted in (101). He surpassed those numbers in each of the next four seasons and became known by the affectionate nickname Big Papi. Ramirez, with his dreadlocks and quirky behavior, and Ortiz, with his gregarious personality and portly build, formed a dynamic tandem on and off the field.

In 2004, they helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 series deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to end decades of heartbreak in Boston.

Ortiz had a game-winning home run and a game-winning hit against the Yankees and was named the most valuable player of that series. Ramirez was named the World Series M.V.P. after going 7 for 17 with a home run.

Three years later, Ramirez and Ortiz helped return Boston to the World Series, where they defeated the Colorado Rockies.

Last season, the Red Sox traded Ramirez to the Dodgers after team officials grew concerned that he was not playing hard in response to a contract dispute. Ramirez played brilliantly in Los Angeles, becoming popular among fans and leading the Dodgers to the playoffs.

But he was suspended in May after officials learned he had been prescribed a fertility drug often used by bodybuilders after they stop using steroids. When Ramirez was suspended, he issued a statement that appeared to maneuver around his 2003 test results.

“I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons,” he said.

That five-year period extended back to 2004, which excluded the 2003 test.

Since returning from his suspension, Ramirez has been accepted by the home fans. Through 49 games this season, he has compiled a .317 average and hit 11 home runs.

Ortiz had a wrist operation last year and missed nearly a third of the season. He started this year in a slump and did not hit his first home run until a month and a half into the season. Since June 1, however, he has hit 13 more home runs.

In 2007, Ortiz said that he used to buy a protein shake in the Dominican Republic when he was younger and did not know if it contained a performance-enhancing drug. In February, he said: “I would suggest everybody get tested, not random, everybody.”

And, he was asked, if a player tests positive for steroids?

“Ban them for the whole year,” he said.

David Waldstein contributing reporting from Boston.

David Waldstein contributed reporting from Boston.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Stars of Red Sox Title Years Are Linked to Doping. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe